DfE Report, Childen In Care Research.

In March this year the Department for Education, in conjunction with Department for Health produced a series of Research reports.
This paper is one of a series of 15 which aims to: 

•  promote the importance of robust quantitative evidence, in combination with other methods, to increase understanding of ‘what works’ in education and children’s services; 
•  identify evidence gaps and promote discussion of them with the research community, practitioners and other stakeholders; 
•  initiate collaboration with the research community, practitioners and other stakeholders to research these issues; and, 
•  support work that helps understand and tackle the barriers to evidence based practice, including how to make evidence accessible to practitioners. 

The principles behind the department’s research strategy are inspired by Ben Goldacre’s vision in the Department for Education Analytical Review. In future, the development and use of evidence should be increasingly driven and owned by the research community, sector bodies and practitioners. 
The published suite of priority and question papers between them cover the department’s key areas of work and provides a coherent strategic context for the research community, sector bodies and practitioners as well as the department, to plan and prioritise research. The department will continue to commission research, informed by the published priority questions.